Meet Nana’s Dreams Farms and Apiary
5497 Carolina Road, Suffolk
It’s summer honey season! On June 9, we were able to get up close with the bees at Nana’s Dreams Farms and Apiary (right next to the NC border on Route 32). Mrs. Knight educated us on everything apiculture and pointed out some of the roosters she and her husband have rescued.
*Nana’s Dreams Farm and Apiary participates in the mid-week farmers’ market on Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:30pm at the Suffolk Visitor’s Center (524 N Main St) on select dates.
*Nana’s Dreams Farm and Apiary participates in the mid-week farmers’ market on Wednesday from 3:30 to 6:30pm at the Suffolk Visitor’s Center (524 N Main St) on select dates.
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Tell me a fun fact about yourself or your business.
“Nana’s” was actually named for the sound our goats used to make. We no longer have goats on the farm so I tell people now that the farm is “Nana’s” because I’m “Nana” to 17 grandchildren. How long have you been in business? 14 years. I trained myself in apiculture by reading, researching, and visiting bee-yards. We started the rooster rescue first. Business at the farm took off after we were featured in the local newspapers (Virginian Pilot and Suffolk News Herald). What is your favorite type of honey? Favorite rooster? I just like honey. J Buff Orpingtons are my favorite type of rooster. They are round with creamy yellow feathers and a calm, easy-going attitude. Do you rent the bees out to local farmers to pollinate plants or let them fly free? We sometimes rent hives out to local people and groups, such as the Master Gardeners. Most activity occurs on our farm. When did you decide to become a farmer? How did you get started or inspired, particularly with the rooster rescue? We started the rooster rescue shortly after moving to the farm. We take city roosters from everywhere since most cities permit only hens in residential areas. I figured we had the means and room to take care of them. What else were people going to do with them? Dump them in the country to let them go wild? Rescued roosters have free range on our 95 acres of land. We get about four to five new roosters every day and have several hundred on the farm. Bees are addictive because they’re so cool! They’re self-sufficient and do a lot to take care of themselves. As long as they have a queen, they’re happy. Describe an average day for you. Early to mid-spring is our busiest season. We construct new bee boxes and honey supers (the part of the box where bees actually live and crawl around on), and preparing new colonies (“nukes” or nucleus) for dearth (the time of year where nectar is much less available like in the summer or high temperatures). We feed the bees a sugar syrup (1 cup sugar to 1 cup water) to get them through dearth. The bees are able to make honey from fall weeds to get themselves through the winter. In the winter, we only check on the bees about once a month. We feed the roosters in the morning and otherwise let them roam around. Most of them walk around with a hen which tends to make them less aggressive. Our roosters go to the chicken house at night and crow all night long, even in their sleep! The noise no longer bothers me. Our guardian dog, Poppy, protects the roosters from local wildlife (bears, bobcats, coyotes, eagles, foxes, anything you could find in the Great Dismal Swamp). You teach beekeeping to inmates. Please walk me through that process – how and when did it get started, do you offer them hands-on demos or all theory, have you ever had them help you afterwards or hear from them? This is the first year of this hands-on pilot program. Exiting inmates have the opportunity to learn how to care for these fascinating insects. As long as you have enough hives (at least 50), you can support a family off being a self-employed apiculturist. The bees used in the program are kept at a bee-yard on the facility’s grounds. What kinds of products do you have, by season? Are products available year-round? I offer various types of chemical-free, unfiltered honey year-round. We have spring wildflower honey in the spring and summer. Cotton honey, a rarer, sweeter, slightly darker honey is produced August to September. I bottle all the honey myself in the “honey house”. I also sell starter hives called “nukes” (short for nucleus starter colonies) during dearth periods. We also breed AKC certified toy poodles on the farm. Where are your products sold? We sell honey to people at the farm all year long. Some people use our products for medicinal purposes or to help with allergies*; others buy them for commercial ventures like breweries. This is the first year we will be at the Suffolk Farmers’ Market. *If you are buying honey for health reasons, get it from a person within 50 miles of you – that is truly local. Do you permit people to visit your farm? When? No appointments or call-aheads are needed to drop off a new rooster. Come by our farm anytime to buy honey. We sell pints, quarts, and gallons depending how much you want. The best and only way to get honey is to go to your local beekeeper (even if it’s not me) and see the bees. How can potential customers reach you? Our Facebook page is very active so check there first. You can call anytime 757-377-8341 or email me at [email protected]. Our farm’s location is 5497 Carolina Rd, right at the border to North Carolina. Why Suffolk? My husband inherited this farm from his father in 1960. I grew up in Norfolk and joined him in country living. |